These rare stones are found in desert area near the town of Safford, Arizona.

What is Saffordite made of?

Saffordites are a lovely lavender colored natural glass stone found only in one place on Earth. Often called Saffordite tektites or sometimes referred to as Arizona Tektites, they are really members of the obsidian glass family of rocks.

What are Saffordite?

Saffordites are a lovely lavender-brown colored natural glass stone, sometimes referred to as Arizona Tektites. ... Chintamani itself is translated as meaning, “thought-gem” or “wishing stone.” Saffordites when seen with the naked eye look like a common brown colored stone.

Where does Tektite come from?

Tektites have been found only in certain parts of the world, spread over large areas called strewn fields, mainly in low latitudes. The three major areas are south-east Asia (especially Thailand and the Philippines), Australasia; Caribbean-North America; and Ivory Coast, West Africa.

Is Saffordite an obsidian?

Without doubt Saffordites are volcanic obsidian. The colour: In transmitted light Saffordite are grey or have a greyish hue and this is indicative of obsidian. Tektites formed in very reducing environments and have a greenish hue (green shades, olive brown, yellowish all with a subtle greenish hue).

Saffordite- Rock Hounding- Arizona

22 related questions found

How can you tell if Saffordite is real?

The surface of Saffordites is usually pitted with cup-shaped depressions similar to the ones found in tektites. Some Saffordites are gemmy clear and sparkling when held to a light. Other Saffordites are banded or translucent instead of clear.

Does obsidian exist?

obsidian, igneous rock occurring as a natural glass formed by the rapid cooling of viscous lava from volcanoes. Obsidian is extremely rich in silica (about 65 to 80 percent), is low in water, and has a chemical composition similar to rhyolite.

Is Obsidian a tektite?

Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass, generally black in color (as most known tektites) but it can also be brown, grey, or green. Ob- sidian typically exhibits layers, whereas tektites do not (with the exception of the Muong Nong-type layered tektites).

How much is tektite worth?

A price of $5-13 / gram covers most specimens, with somewhere in the middle of this a pretty realistic price for an average specimen. Central American tektites have a sparse supply, are not common and found in a relatively small area.

Is tektite magnetic?

Tektites are Glass. ... The first thing to bear in mind is that tektites are a homogenous glass. They are not magnetic and never attract a magnet.

What is the Chintamani Stone?

Cintāmaṇi (Sanskrit; Devanagari: चिंतामणि; Chinese: 如意寶珠; Pinyin: Rúyì bǎozhū; Romanji: Nyoihōju), also spelled as Chintamani (or the Chintamani Stone), is a wish-fulfilling jewel within both Hindu and Buddhist traditions, said by some to be the equivalent of the philosopher's stone in Western alchemy.

What is a pseudo Tektite?

The appearance is similar to tektites so are known as a pseudo tektite, however they are actually a rare obsidian that was formed by a powerful volcanic eruption which threw molten magma into the sky and then solidified into volcanic glass as it fell.

Where can I sell Tektite?

Option 1: Sell meteorites or tektites on eBay, or social networking platforms like Facebook.

Is Tektite radioactive?

Radioactivity is all around us and tektites are no more radioactive than any normal rock on Earth, any window glass, any other human being or household object.

Is Tektite a glass?

A Tektite is a rare natural glass formed when an asteroid strikes the Earth. Tektites can be found at at least five widely separated locations on the Earth.

Can tektites be green?

Tektites can differ in both color and age, depending on where they are found. Commonly black color, tektites can also vary from light green to greenish yellow. Ages vary from ~35.5 million to ~750,000 years old.

Is tektite a mineral?

They have a chunky, blocky appearance, exhibit a layered structure with abundant vesicles, and contain mineral inclusions, such as zircon, baddeleyite, chromite, rutile, corundum, cristobalite, and coesite. Microtektites, the fourth group of tektites, are less than 1 mm in size.

Is Obsidian attracted to a magnet?

By nature, obsidian is dark coloured because of the presence of an extremely fine distribution of magnetite and/or hematite. A slight increase in the amount of either could be enough to draw a magnet, although as Donald stated, those neodimium magnets are strong little animals.....

Is purple obsidian real?

Purple Obsidian is a see-through purple stone that can be purely purple and resemble amethyst, may be clear with purple stripes, or clear with purple freckles. These are very light purple specimens. You will receive one stone approximately 1" - 1.25".

Why is obsidian so dark?

Obsidian is commonly a translucent dark brown or black. Unlike basalt, obsidian's dark color is due to high amounts of impurities rather than the presence of dark colored minerals. The color of obsidian depends on the chemical composition of the impurities.

Is obsidian toxic?

Sometimes confused with tourmaline, obsidian is considered toxic because of it's chemical makeup. ... Aside from the fact that obsidian is a razor sharp volcanic glass and could cause you many problems physically if you were to ingest it, the elements that make up obsidian are also bad news for humans.

Is Tektite worth money?

The value of these rough specimens depends greatly on their shape, size, and visual appeal. Tektites large enough to be cut into gemstones are rare. The value of cut tektites depends mostly on their size, transparency, color, and cut quality.

Where can I find Bediasites?

Bediasite is a form or type of tektite. It originates in an area in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas centered on the small town of Bedias which is 74 miles (119 km) north west of Houston. They are found in about nine Texas Counties in an area of over 7,000 square miles (18,000 km²).

Is Agni Manitite the same as moldavite?

What makes this so rare, is that most of the pieces of Agni Manitite are now underwater, resulting in this tektite to be incredibly hard to come by. It's unlike Moldavite, where farmers can just plow their fields and yield one of the highest regarded E.T. stones.